Maleficent sighed, barely restraining herself from drumming her fingers in annoyance. It was in the middle of winter and snow and darkness covered the lands. Plants were slumbering, waiting for spring to come around, as were many of the creatures that roamed the humans' lands. The landscape was quiet and still and bordering on lifeless. To the humans, apparently this meant it was time for a celebration. Giving away things, engaging in recreational deforestation and wearing silly hats.
Of course, that apparently included Maleficent herself, despite her vehement refusals. It was red and white, with a fluffy little ball at the top. The only reason she didn't constantly glare at it was the fact that it sat on top of her head, making it rather difficult without a mirror.
So she resigned herself to glare – to look, Aurora had told her to be nice – down at the humans in front of her, bustling around, chatting and decorating. She was sitting in a meeting hall of some sort in one of the larger villages after Aurora continuously had insisted that she should follow the other fairies and join in the celebrations. 'It would go a long way to mend the relations between the two peoples,' Aurora had said, 'and they will all be so happy to see you!' When Maleficent realized that Aurora meant the humans, she had laughed and replied that she would be happy to prove Aurora wrong. What Maleficent hadn't done was to ask what she was actually supposed to do.
And that was how she ended up sitting on a throne-like chair in the middle of the meeting hall, letting child after child crawl up – or be deposited by wary parents – in her lap and either stare wide-eyed at her wings and horns or mumble that they wanted a pony or a new toy for the solstice celebrations.
To be honest, it unsettled Maleficent how few of the children actually seemed to be afraid of her. They were far more interested in asking her inane questions and poking her wings than running away, screaming in fear. One even giggled when she accidentally flipped him over with her wings after his poking tickled her a little to much.
Thankfully, the crowd was beginning to thin out and the sun had already set. Soon, Maleficent would be allowed to step down from her temporary throne, nod curtly at the humans and then fly off to the warm bed where her young queen would be waiting for her.
A movement in one of the corners of the room caught her eye. The girl that stood there had been there for over an hour, never moving far from her corner. She seemed awfully shy, hidden under a hood pulled and a scarf that covered the bottom half of her face. Perhaps she was sick, or malformed in some way? Despite her usually indifferent attitude towards humans, Maleficent couldn't help but feel for the girl. She looked fairly old to be at the event, looking to be at least a teenager.
This time, however, the girl managed to gather enough courage to walk up to Maleficent. After a moment of hesitation, she promptly crawled up and plopped down in the fairy's lap. It felt odd to Maleficent, both how old the girl looked and how familiar she felt. It was as if she fit perfectly sitting tangled up in Maleficent's embrace.
"So, little one," Maleficent hummed, tilting her head to try to get a better view. "Is there anything you wish for?"
"Yes," the girl whispered after a brief pause. "I think there's something you can do for me." She shifted to get in a more comfortable position, her nose brushing the skin on Maleficent's neck.
Drawing in a surprised breath, Maleficent wondered who the girl could be. Few humans – small children not included – showed friendliness towards her, let alone open affection like this one. In fact, only one human had ever been truly at ease in her company. She narrowed her eyes, looking closely at the girl in her lap, trying to make out her features under the hood. She did have curly hair, but it was brown. Her skin looked dirty and under her eyes were dark bags. Her clothes looked fairly clean but still ragged and they were far too thin for the season. The girl suddenly shivered and without thinking Maleficent brought her wings forward, enveloping the girl in a warm embrace.
"Thank you," the girl whispered with a soft giggle, shifting her position again to gently pet the wings that shielded her.
Maleficent huffed but made no move to stop her. "You should dress more warmly, girl."
"Why should I, when you can keep me warm?"
"I won't be able to keep you warm forever."
The girl just hummed, sounding none too concerned.
They sat quiet for a while, Maleficent growing increasingly confused by the girls behavior. Was this perhaps some friend of Aurora's? She was far too comfortable in Maleficent's presence to be just anyone.
"Did you only come up here to warm yourself or was there anything else?" she asked with as much annoyance she could muster, which, truth be told, wasn't much at all. The girl had a very soothing presence.
With a giggle, the girl brushed her nose against Maleficent's neck again, this time clearly not by accident. "I have a wish I want you to fulfill, Maleficent."
Maleficent blinked, suddenly feeling rather flushed. She straightened her shoulders and tried not to be affected by the strangely intimate manners the girl had. Not many used her name, even fewer using it like that.
"I want..." the girl paused and Maleficent could imagine her licking her lips. "I want you on your back, splayed out for me," she whispered, her voice huskier than before. "I want my fingers inside of you, making you moan and scream for me as your wings twitch uncontrollably."
Maleficent's jaw slowly fell open. How did she–
"I want you to beg for more and more until you're so tired you can't even lift your wings anymore." She paused, taking a shaky breath. "I want to fuck you senseless, Maleficent." The last sentence was emphasized by a lingering kiss to Maleficent's neck.
"Aurora?" Maleficent asked, eyes wild and her heart beating a lot faster than usual. A muffled giggle that made the body in her lap shake for a moment was all the reply she needed. "What–"
"Will you grant me my wish?" Aurora asked, her voice quiet but no longer a whisper. "Please?"
Maleficent was sure the sound of her swallowing was heard throughout the village. "Of course." She pulled back Aurora's hood and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Anything. But why do all this?"
"I wanted to see what it was like; I never got to do it when I grew up," Aurora explained, snuggling back into the crook of Maleficent's neck.
"I highly doubt children would ask for something like that, Beastie."
Aurora giggled. "No, I suppose not. But I'm not a child anymore."
"Sometimes I wonder." She paused. "What about the hair? And your face?"
"Oh, that was just a little disguise," she chuckled. "I didn't want to get any special treatment. The brown will disappear after I wash my hair."
"Strange little beastie," Maleficent murmured.
"I suppose I should go now though, before all the people in the castle get any more worried than they already are." Humming to herself, Aurora ran her lips lightly over Maleficent's neck, leaving goosebumps in her wake. "Don't leave me waiting too long," she mumbled into Maleficent's soft skin. With a last kiss on her cheek, Aurora unwrapped herself from the fairy's embrace and skipped out of the building, leaving a confused and aroused Maleficent behind.
Aurora was straddling her, her hand mercilessly working between Maleficent's legs. The brown hair that cascaded around her head was a strange sight, but not unattractive. Maleficent highly doubted she'd every find anything unattractive with her beloved Beastie.
"Are you close?" Aurora asked, her voice much huskier than usual. She licked her lips, gazing down at the twitching and panting fairy below her.
"Y-yes," Maleficent croaked, nodding jerkily. When Aurora smirked and twisted her fingers inside her just so, Maleficent didn't even try to hold back her strangled moan. Truth be told, she had been close for a long time now, ever since Aurora had shakily whispered in her ear what her second solstice wish was.
"I want to see you resist," Aurora had whispered even as she slowly rubbed Maleficent's already soaked folds. "I want to see you hold out as long as you can before..." She had swallowed and paused, apparently unsure, until Maleficent had brought her hand up to caress Aurora's cheek, soothing her worries. "Before I let you come," Aurora had finished. "I want to see you come apart, because of me. To let me see what no one else gets to see." Her eyes had been wide and so very dark and her cheeks rosy and Maleficent had found it impossible to say no.
And now, an indeterminate amount of time later, Maleficent was at the end of her rope. Her breath was quick and ragged, her voice was raspy from overuse and sweat covered her entire body. Her wings was twitching and shivering uncontrollably under her, apparently unable to decide if they wanted to extend to their fullest or wrap around the beautiful queen that hovered over them. Another groan was pulled out of her as Aurora flicked her thumb over Maleficent's clit and just like the last minutes – or hours? Maleficent really couldn't tell – it was only what little was left of her control that kept her from completely falling apart.
"Please," Maleficent half breathed, half moaned, her fingers tangling in Aurora's long tresses. "Please – gah! – just – ah, fuck!" She wasn't even sure what she was pleading for anymore. Although she would never say it out loud, she loved what Aurora did to her almost as much as she knew she would love it when she was allowed to come. A shiver tore through her body. Allowed. Spirits.
Aurora placed a soft kiss on Maleficent's lips, never slowing down the hand that pumped between Maleficent's long legs. "You're so beautiful like this, Maleficent. So beautiful." She bent down for another kiss, running her tongue over Maleficent's upper lip before pulling back. "Now come for me, love."
Hearing those words, Maleficent finally let her frail control go and surrendered to Aurora's touch completely. All she could sense was her own, loud, almost pained groan and Aurora's hands on her body. With a few more flicks of Aurora's thumb over her clit, Maleficent's body seized, forming a perfect arch as she clawed at the bedspread. Wave after wave of pleasure tore through her body.
The last thing she heard before darkness completely took her were three words. "Happy solstice, Maleficent."
Maleficent awoke with a groan early the next morning. Her whole body ached – pleasantly, very pleasantly – and she barely had the strength to open her eyes. Blinking blearily in the dim light, she shot a glance at the window. Her mood dropped immediately: it was snowing. Flying would be difficult, if not impossible. Bah.
Turning her head despite her aching muscles, she peered down at the strange sight beside her in bed. For a short moment, her sleep-addled mind tried to understand why there was a brunette in bed with her.
The girl in bed with her, seemingly feeling that Maleficent was awake, let out a little pleased noise and tried to curl up even closer. Seeing how she was already lying nearly on top of Maleficent, that was rather difficult.
"G'morning, Godmother," Aurora mumbled as her hand began lazily tracing patterns across Maleficent's bare stomach.
"Good morning, Beastie," Maleficent replied, her voice raw and husky from being so thoroughly used. She smiled to herself. There had been more than just her voice that had been thoroughly used last night.
"Wait," Aurora muttered and tried to push herself up into a sitting position, accidentally groping Maleficent's breast in the process. "Isn't it, you know," her mumbling was interrupted by a large yawn, "day after solstice." She blinked at nothing for a few moments before her eyes grew large. "It's the day after the winter solstice!" she exclaimed, staring down at Maleficent with a beaming smile. "Come on!" Suddenly, she was apparently fully awake and dead set on forcibly pulling Maleficent out of the bed, preferably yesterday.
"Aurora. Aurora!" Maleficent exclaimed, swatting away Aurora's insistent hands. "I'm coming." Getting some distracting flashbacks from the night before, she clarified. "Out of bed, that is. I'm just a bit tired"
"Alright," Aurora acquiesced, albeit with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Did I tire you out last night?"
Maleficent scoffed, fluttering her wings in annoyance. She had enjoyed it – very much so, in fact – but that was no reason to let that little brat know it so easily.
"Thought so," Aurora smugly chirped before skipping off to the wardrobe. She was far too chipper this early in the morning, Maleficent decided.
Aurora quickly returned with a robe for Maleficent and a simple shift for herself. After putting a few more logs into the slumbering fire, she grabbed a thick blanket off the bed and ushered Maleficent over to sit on a rug near the fireplace.
"Aurora–" Maleficent tried to ask, but Aurora quickly cut her off.
"It's tradition, Maleficent, don't you remember?" Putting down a beige sack in front of them, she plopped down next to Maleficent and snuggled up to her, pulling the blanket close around them. "The morning after the winter solstice, you sit around the tree with those who are closest to you and share gifts." She beamed up at Maleficent who couldn't help but smile back. For a human tradition, it wasn't all that bad.
"You do realize that we're sitting next to, not around the tree, don't you?" Maleficent noted, if only to poke a little fun at Aurora's endearing eagerness when it came to human traditions.
Aurora huffed. "I'm not going to sit all the way on the other side of the tree without you. Besides, the decorations are much prettier from this side, in the firelight."
"I suppose you have a point," Maleficent hummed.
"The tree", as the humans called it, was a spruce that apparently was ritually cut down at some point before solstice, then put in a tiny water filled urn of some sort before getting decorated with all manners of more or less aesthetically pleasing trinkets. For some reason, the humans enjoyed watching their tree slowly die over the span of several weeks.
Maleficent, on the other hand, found no enjoyment in that (not anymore), so instead she had found a nice tree, asked it for permission and then gently transferred it to a large pot with the express promise to return it to its original spot a while after the solstice celebrations. Now the tree stood in its pot in the Queen's chambers, alive and well.
It was rather pretty,, she had to admit that. Glass baubles, apples, straw figures and many other little things, glinting and glittering in the warm light from the fire. It reminded her of watching the smaller of the fair folk dance and play at night in the Moors.
Aurora, unable to wait any longer, darted out a hand from underneath the cover of blanket and wings and pulled the burlap sack up in her lap with an excited little noise. Opening it up, she rifled through the sack for a moment before pulling up a rather large packet wrapped in brown paper and held shut by a green band that ended in an elaborate bow.
"This is for me?" Aurora asked, peering at the packet with wide eyes as if she could find out its content by sheer excitement. When Maleficent only nodded, Aurora beamed and stared at the packet for a few more moments before remembering that the sack wasn't empty yet. "Oh! And this," she reached into the sack and pulled out a somewhat smaller packet, "is for you. Happy solstice."
Maleficent smiled back and leaned down and kissed Aurora gently on her lips, lingering a little longer than necessary. "Thank you."
Aurora let out a pleased hum and snuggled in closer to Maleficent before unwrapping her present. To her surprise, the large packet had two smaller ones inside. Tossing a questioning glance at Maleficent, she unwrapped the larger of the two. Inside was a red knitted cap with white patterns and a large, fluffy ball at the top.
"I thought, with all the silly hats around this time of year..." Maleficent said, unsure of the reaction she would get. It was a rather silly-looking hat, after all. "And your hood keeps falling off in the wind, too."
"Oh, it's wonderful," Aurora squealed as she put it on. "And it so soft and warm!" Suddenly startled, she turned towards Maleficent, an incredulous expression playing on her face. "Did you knit this yourself?"
Fiddling with the blanket, Maleficent didn't respond. It felt like a ridiculous thing for a fairy of her kind to do. But then again, she had really wanted to make something special and useful for Aurora, who was always outside skipping through the snow, her hood thrown back and her head bare. "Yes," she muttered, feeling her cheeks heat up.
Aurora nearly threw herself around Maleficent's neck. "It's beautiful," Aurora murmured into Maleficent's hair, the fluffy ball on top of her cap flailing wildly.
"I'm glad you like it," Maleficent replied, happy that her gift had been received so well. "But you do have another packet left."
Turning around, Aurora shifted herself to fully sit in Maleficent's lap, squirming a bit until she sat comfortably. Then she picked up the smaller packet and excitedly unwrapped it. Soon, a wooden box sat in the middle of what remained of the wrapping. "A box," Aurora muttered to herself, opening it carefully. Her face lit up in a wide smile as she saw what lay inside. "Ooh, chocolate!"
"A few different kinds," Maleficent pointed out, "so you can see which ones you enjoy the most."
Aurora wasted no time to try one, practically throwing it in her mouth. "So good," Aurora moaned and licked her lips when she'd finished devouring the first chocolate piece. Maleficent had to stop herself from surging forward and licking those inviting lips herself. "Here, try one," she urged Maleficent, holding out one for her.
Maleficent gave her a strange look. "Aren't these gifts meant to be accepted, not given back?"
"We'll share, of course. We always share." Aurora held the chocolate so close to Maleficent's dark lips that they almost touched. "Now taste it. It's delicious."
With an unconvinced hum, Maleficent nonetheless leaned forward and captured the chocolate and, in extension, Aurora's fingertips in her mouth. Her lips quirked up when she saw Aurora's wide eyes being complimented by a blush covering her cheeks and her mouth falling open, if only just a little. Her little Beastie could seem so innocent at times. Leaning back, she released Aurora's fingers with a pop. She had to admit, the chocolate was quite delicious, too.
"Well," Aurora cleared her throat, her blush already reaching her chest, "you still haven't opened your gift." She frowned and looked down on the gift that she'd just picked up. "I only gave you one, though. But then again, we're sharing this, so..."
Leaving Aurora to her musings, Maleficent reached around her and began carefully unwrapping the packet. First the string, then the wrapping paper and finally a large piece of cloth. When she finally managed to unwrap it all, she was left with two knitted... she wasn't exactly sure what they were. They looked a little like tiny socks, but without a heel and oddly pointy in one end. They were rather pretty at least, with patterns of beige, orange and white interweaving in a way that was oddly reminiscent of the way her magic flowed through the air.
"I'm..." Maleficent stopped and frowned at the two objects. She certainly didn't want to hurt Aurora's feelings, but she truly had no idea what the two things were. "I'm sorry, what are these?"
Aurora picked one up and held it out. "Don't you see?" Maleficent gave her a blank stare. "They're for your horns," Aurora explained.
Maleficent blinked. "What?"
"You put them on your horns, like a... like a hat, I suppose." Before Maleficent had time to realize what was going on, Aurora had already reached up and tugged it onto Maleficent's left horn. "See? It'll keep them warm when you're here in the winter."
"I do not need... hornwarmers, Beastie," Maleficent said flatly, although she couldn't get herself to take it off.
Aurora narrowed her eyes at her. "I know your horns get cold, Maleficent. That's why you always touch them when you don't think anyone's watching. To keep them warm, right?"
It took only a second for Maleficent to realize how Aurora knew. "Diaval told you, didn't he."
"Only because I asked him, and I did suspect it before. I know how sensitive your horns can be," she noted with a smirk, running a finger up to the top and then down again over the uncovered horn, sending little shivers up and down Maleficent's spine.
As much as Maleficent wanted to scoff and tell her what a ridiculous idea it was, Aurora was right. In fact, her horns were often uncomfortably cold when she was outside in the human lands during the colder seasons. That, however, did not make the hornwarmers any less ridiculous.
"Fine," she grumbled, her pout lessening slightly as Aurora lit up with a smile and reached up to put on the second hornwarmer. "I suppose it is the season for silly headwear." She lifted her hand to Aurora's cap and bopped the ball on top with her finger. It looked absolutely ridiculous, but in a very endearing way. It fit her Beastie. "And no one seems to take me seriously anyway." Huffing, she pulled Aurora closer to her as if she was some kind of stuffed toy. "Not even one of the children ran away from me yesterday. It was absolutely awful."
Aurora giggled and shifted slightly, burrowing further into Maleficent's embrace. "I'm sure I can find someone for you to scare, if you ask nicely."
Maleficent nodded absentmindedly. "Good."
Only the crackle of the fire was heard for a while as they both sat in silence, content with each other's company.
"Happy solstice," Maleficent murmured.
"Happy solstice," Aurora replied in return. "Are they comfortable?"
Maleficent shot a glance at Aurora, only to see a cheeky grin on her lips. They were very warm and comfortable, but she sure wouldn't give her teasing little Beastie the satisfaction. So she only huffed and turned her gaze back at the decorated tree.
She wondered if Diaval would get a silly hat too. It seemed only fitting.